Still doing CrossFit

I'm still doing CrossFit and LOVING IT, but I haven't been posting here because I see there are no page views and figure, what's the point? I already share my work out information on both of my Facebook accounts and enter them into Myfitnesspal.com so it seems kinda pointless to post on here also when I can see there are no page views coming in. If you would like to follow me on Facebook or MFP, feel free to comment here and I'll make sure to add you. :0)

Days 18 & 19

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Tonight's exercises
Warm up:
200 meter run
10 walking lunges
10 squats
5 push ups
10 squats
5 push ups
400 meter run

Work out:
3 rope climbs
40 box jumps
21 ring dips
30 box jumps
15 Ring dips
20 box jump
9 ring dips
3 rope climbs

Thursday, June 12, 2012 

OMGosh...I am beat! Tonight's work out was a freaking killer, even though it doesn't sound hard! Now I'm posting this, updating my trackers, and I think I'm gonna lay in bed and watch t.v. because BIG BROTHER COMES ON TONIGHT!!! :D

Warm up (Completed twice):
200 meter run
30 meter bear crawl
25 jumping jacks

Work out:
20 min AMRAP (as many reps as possible):
15 Box Jumps,
20 Sit Ups

I did a total of 120 sit ups and 105 box jumps (6.5 reps)

Camping trip

We got back from our camping trip, and we had a great time! Unfortunately all of my resolutions to eat descent went out the window for the most part. I ate too many breads, grains, and drank WAY too much Soda. I felt it for a couple of days too! I'm just now starting to feel better! On the bright side, the kids and I participated in a TON of water sports. It was a lot of fun, and next time I will plan better and remember how crappy I felt for nearly a week afterwards!

CrossFit Day 17!

Today's workout before we hit the road.

Warm up:
400 meter run
30 kettle bell squats (10 lb.)
20 wall balls (20 lb.)
10 sit ups

Exercise:
jump rope for 15 minutes - 2 minutes on, 1 minute off
5 rope climbs (working on my 31 Heroes improvements)
10 minutes stretching techniques

Have a great weekend everyone! We are heading out camping and going to enjoy lots of water sports with the boat!

Crossfit days 14-16

It's been awhile since I've posted here on my blog. I'm still sticking with my new lifestyle changes, so here is an update for the days I forgot to blog:

Crossfit Day 14! (June 26, 2012)

Tonight's exercises

Warm up:

400 meter run

20 Good Mornings

20 Air Squats

20 sit ups

Work out:

600 meter run (I could only run the first 200) then...

Timed 3 rounds of:

7 push jerk lifts (35# bar)

15 walking lunges

15 wall-balls (10# ball)

My time 7:37

 

Crossfit Day 15! (June 28, 2012)

Today's exercises
Warm up:
400 meter row
30 air squats
30 push ups
30 sit ups

WOD:
2000 meter row in 17:41

Crossfit Day 16! (July 3, 2012)

Tonight's exercises
Warm up:
21 air squats, 21 push ups
15 air squats, 15 push ups
9 air squats, 9 push ups
24 sit ups

Work out: (Timed 6:51, but I honestly think I did the 6 rep twice...I tend to lose count lol)
10 Dead-lifts (55 lbs total weight on lift each time)
10 sit ups
8 Dead-lifts, 10 sit ups
6 Dead-lifts, 10 sit ups
4 Dead-lifts, 10 sit ups
2 Dead-lifts, 10 sit ups

Weekend update

Things are going really well. Dipping my feet into the Paleo world has gone pretty smoothly, so far. :0) I've cut out breads/rice/grains/legumes out of my diet at about 80/20 ratio. I give myself one "cheat day" each week because I know myself and if I completely cut them out I will just end up binge eating. I say dipping my feet into the Paleo world because I have not strictly Paleo yet. I still eat sugars, dairy, cheeses, etc. just trying to slowly cut down on those. I know some will only succeed if they completely jump into the cold water...me, I need more of a "OMG THAT SHIT'S COLD" method ;0) 

But in all seriousness - switching into a more Paleo lifestyle has been much easier than I anticipated it would be! I thought I'd have serious cravings for the bread/rice especially. We would often have each or both at dinner every night. I thought I'd be craving Subway or sandwiches just because I couldn't have them, but it hasn't been like that at all. This could be because my mind and body are on the same page regarding getting my butt back into gear, OR it could just be that I've PLANNED this trip each and every day. If you plan, you are less likely to fail. Every Saturday I sit down and plan the menu for the following week. Every Sunday I go grocery shopping to get the items I need. Every night before I go to bed I set out any meat that needs to be set out. Every morning when I wake up I make sure everything I need is together.

The days I've forgotten to set out meat or forgotten to put something in the crock pot that was on the menu, we've ended up having to grab something for dinner. On these days, I DO NOT ALLOW the circumstances to convince me that I should just grab whatever. I research the menu's of nearby restaurants, and often times this means I fall back on my "I will allow myself a salad from Bojangles, even though I know the chicken is breaded" theory I first talked about. I know that the next step of cutting out sugar's is going to be a challenge, but I'm hoping the training I'm doing will just be more motivation to eat and drink 100% healthy and the cravings aren't too bad. Time will tell!

Speaking of my exercise routine - we are still doing CrossFit twice a week. I'm seriously contemplating upping it to 4 times a week, but in the meantime 4 of the other days we are going to the park and doing a walk/jog/run/walk backwards routine of at least a mile each time. The rest of my family is not interested in upping their days, and frankly, I don't know if I could afford to up the entire family's membership. They all agree that it would be good if I did it though, so now it's just a matter of working out details, checking price, and seeing if it will physically work for me. Sometimes having one day in between the two days we go my body is still hurting, yet once I start working out again it feels better. So maybe this is just me being afraid to step in a little deeper? I'm not sure. Time to do some soul searching, I suppose.

In other news of my life - I found out today that I made the Presidents List at my college for maintaining a 4.0 last semester. I knew that I had the 4.0, but nothing was ever sent to me like friends at other colleges received so I just figured "oh well", at least I still have the 4.0 for last semester LOL This is a very proud accomplishment for me because I run my own business, attend school full time, and I'm a wife and mother full time as well, so I'm taking the time to state everywhere possible that I've made this list :0)

Here's to another amazing week! Oh, and for those wondering - I ABSOLUTELY LOVE MY NEW SHOES!!!

Crossfit Day 13!

Tonight's exercise:

Warm up:
800 meter run
6 Burpees
12 Lunges
6 Burpees
12 side lunges
6 Burpees
12 high kicks

Tabata exercises tonight. Tabata focuses on doing quick, powerful exercises. You don't count the reps you're doing, you just go full speed as fast as you can and don't stop. You exercise for 30 seconds and take a 10 second break. We did 8 minutes of sit ups and 8 minutes of air squats.

400 meter run
Mobility exercises (essentially stretches/cool down)

CrossFit Day 12

Tonight's warm up:

400 meter run

20 Kettle bell squats

20 Lunges

15 sit ups

10 push ups

Work out:

400 meter run

20 Pull ups

10 Push ups (I really need to get better at these, 10 freaking kill me!!)

20 Barbell Thrusters

My first CrossFit event :0)

Ok, so BIG announcement for me! My 17 yr old and I have officially registered for our very first CrossFit event. We will be participating in the 31 Heroes WOD (workout of the day) on Saturday, August 4th.

From the website: "The 31Heroes Project exists to honor our fallen heroes killed in action August 6, 2011 through fitness and raise funds for programs that provide support to families of all fallen military heroes—past, present, and future."

Our gym had a few members that were part of the 31 heroes referenced and I've loved the idea of these events honoring military members who have given all since hearing about the Memorial Day Murph (which I fully intend to participate in next year!). This WOD is a partnered activity and 17 yr old has agreed to do it with me.

For those interested in learning more about this event and what we will be doing, check out their website at: 

31 Heroes

New shoes and Saturday exercise

SQUUUUUEEEEEE my new shoes (Merrell Women Barefoot Pace Glove Shoes) just got here! They said they wouldn't get here til Monday or I would've waited to exercise! Aren't they pretty (other than my already swollen ankles from exercising today LOL)?

My exercise today consisted of walking/jogging/walking backwards for 1.75 miles. No idea how to figure out the calorie burn on that, but I know I burned more than if I sat my butt on the couch or computer playing, so I'm happy with that! My legs are still feeling like jello from the "mash up" exercise at Crossfit on Thursday! They always do after a workout that includes lunges. I say burpees are hard, but I swear the lunges take longer for me to recover from and if I coined any of the workouts I did as "Satan's exercise" as I've heard burpees referred to, it would be lunges! Anyone else?

Crossfit Day 11

Tonight's workout

Warm up:

(totals are in parenthesis we did 20, 15, 10, 5 and then reversed back up 5, 10, 15, 20)

20 air squats (40)
15 meter bear crawl (30)
10 lunges (20)
5 burpees (10)

Work out:

(Every 30 seconds switch from one exercise then rest for 30 seconds, then to next exercise. Total workout time, 16 minutes)

Power snatch
Overhead squat
10 lb. kettle bell swings (this was mine, everyone had different weights)

Crossfit Day 10

Ok, lets see if I can remember all of my workout. Thankfully, my hubby's still up to help me because I forgot a few LOL

Warm up:
20 lunges
2 minutes stretching (specific) exercise
2 minute jump rope
10 Ball Slams (ha, ha!)

Work out:
45 push ups
45 sit ups
60 air squats
600 meter run

Now, I'm going to crash - HARD!!

Crossfit Day 9!

Our membership at our Crossfit gym (yes, I know everyone calls it a box…it just sounds weird to me not to say gym) is only for 2 days since we’re just starting, so today we’re (some of us) pumping it up to 3 days a week, adding in a Saturday at the house as well - not that I ever actually sit around on a Saturday, but it’s not planned exercise it’s wherever the wind takes me - so I created our own little Saturday WOD for our official exercise today. It kicked our butts; proof that it’s not about the location, to get a good work out you can be at your own house! We tried to record video, but my memory got full halfway through Dylan’s LOL oops!

50 jump ropes
50 sit ups
50 squats
jog on my property (Me: 800 meters, boys: 1200 meters)
50 burpees

Times:
Me: 22:47
16 yr old: 10:02
14 yr old: 19:20

We were pretty accurate guessing how far our 400 meter run was after converting the info from the pedometer from miles/meters. The boys did 1200 meter jogs and I did 800.

DAMN…I can kick my own butt on the weekend, but it’s still too hard to force a smile at the end LOL Excuse the blurry image…it’s hard to have a steady hand when you’re so tired ;0)

I have to say, I’m pretty darned proud of myself this week! I started no breads/grains/legumes, and I’m doing awesome. I had one bite of a bread stick at Olive Garden the other day and that has been it since Sunday! Almost a full week. It’s funny how many times you realize you were reaching for food though and then remind yourself NOOOO that’s a bread/grain!! It’s also pretty funny how great the food tastes when you don’t have those “fillers” (that’s what I consider them) and how much you actually start craving fresh veggies. Maybe after my b-day (4th of July) I will try cutting out the added sugar as well. :0)

Crossfit Day 8!

Barely feels like we did a work out tonight at the gym, which means we probably won't be able to walk tomorrow! LOL I even ran extra to get more of a burn in.

Warm up:

400 meter run

21 Burpees

15 Air Squats

21 Back extensions

WOD:

15 Overhead Squats with a 35 lb barbell (the first time we've actually used the bar, but Cierra did not use this one, she used a learning bar, not sure how much it weighed)

5 Glute-Ham Developer (GHD) Sit-Up's

400 meter run

Crossfit Day 7 :0)

We are officially on day 1 of our Paleo lifestyle (modified, see my last post), and we made an AMAZING dish from Everyday Paleo called Everyday Paleo Pancit which is based upon a Filipino recipe. You should definitely check the recipe out, even if you aren't following the Paleo lifestyle because it's DEEEE-LICIOUS!! It got 4 approvals in our house, and would've gotten 5 (I think), except my 16 yr old isn't here.

So, onto our exercise for today. WOW!! It totally kicked our butts! I'm already feeling the burn in my body, and I don't usually feel that until later in the evening! We loved it and once again - I'm surprised at the differences I can see in not only myself, but my family as we take this journey together.

With that said, here is what our work out was today:

Warm up: 

400 meter run (I was sooo proud of myself, I actually ran it all!!)
15 push ups
15 air squats
15 sit ups
15 tuck jumps
and a 1 minute plank (I need to time mine because I know I can't make the minute, but at least I'm making it longer each time we do them).

Work out:
400 meter run
20 pull ups (I didn't use a bar, I used rings hanging from the ceiling)
200 meter run
20 air squats
200 meter run
15 burpees
200 meter run

Taking the plunge a little deeper :0)

I'm taking the plunge a little bit deeper in re-gaining my health. I will be upping my workouts a little bit by adding another day ASAP. I'm also going more paleo - as in no breads or grains....with a few exceptions. First, there is a salad I get at Bojangles that contains breaded chicken and I enjoy it most with honey mustard dressing. I don't get it often, but sometimes I get a hankering for it, and it's much healthier than some of the other desires I sometimes get so I indulge it.

Second, if there is a birthday party and I want a piece of cake, I will allow myself a small slice of cake. I know myself, and if I totally deprive myself then I will start binging on the things I'm not allowing myself. There are a few special occasions and birthdays coming up, and I know if I say no cake then I will be wanting to eat an entire one by myself. I'm after a lifestyle change...not deprivation. I do plan to eventually reach the "finish line" where I won't want the nasty processed crap anymore, but it's a slow road to run and I'm pacing myself and picking my battles ;0)

Since I've started doing Crossfit I have eaten better and cooked at home MUCH more often. My first big goal was to STOP eating fast food. I don't recall if I ever stated it on my blog or not, but we used to eat fast food at least 5-6 times per week, often multiple times a day. When we started paying for gym time and working out we all made the commitment to not eat fast food throughout the week, and to enjoy it on Saturday's for one meal. We've done REALLY well with this goal. We aren't perfect, and there were a couple of times we have eaten it and it wasn't on a Saturday (usually a Sunday or Friday night for those times) but overall we've much improved!

I haven't told my family we are cutting out the breads and grains, because honestly...in the recipes I have planned for this week, thanks to Everyday Paleo I'm hoping they don't even notice. I'm hoping they will be enjoying the meals and the tastes so much they don't even REALIZE there aren't breads or grains. We eat a lot of noodles and rice with our meals as side items, but past that we usually have a veggie and our main dish. I figure it's kinda like dealing with kids when it comes to changing something so majorly...if you change it and tell them, they have a chance to complain. If you change it and don't tell them, they probably won't even notice as long as the meals are flavorful ;0)

Outside of our eating, things have been going really well. I guess I can say the theory about "drinking the Crossfit Kool-aid" is true. I've been singing its praises all week. I feel amazing! More energy, less lethargic, looking for things to do that are outside of the house, etc. I FEEL the differences mentally and physically AND I can actually already SEE my body changing. I honestly didn't expect to SEE changes yet. I don't know how else to word it, and I apologize if it makes some of y'all cringe, but I see lumps, rolls, and flab shifting and adjusting. My shape is changing. I recognize at this point it won't be pretty, but to see the changes already is pretty danged amazing!

I can't remember the last time I actually did yard work outside without huffing and puffing and barely breathing, but yesterday we did yard work outside for about 4 hours. We live on 2 acres and there is A LOT to keep up with. I woke up with tons of energy and decided it was time to get the yard working better. Feeling the difference in my body in every day movements is also amazing. I realized yesterday how often I am bending down to pick something up, instead of asking one of my kids to grab it, or using something else to pick something up, etc. It's easier to get up off of couches and chairs than it was...everything is just easier.

I don't pretend I'm shedding tons of pounds, in fact my scale is really confused with me working out. It's been bouncing around about 10-15 pounds daily. One day I'm up, one day I'm down. But either way, I am checking the numbers just to watch what it's doing. I told myself when I started doing Crossfit that I would NOT quit the first month, NO MATTER WHAT. I didn't care how hard it was, how uncomfortable I was in the gym around super-fit people, how embarrassing I felt when doing exercises because of my size - I WOULD NOT QUIT. I haven't felt any of the above, except the exercises being hard - PHYSICALLY. I love my gym. I love the people. They are encouraging, they are inspiring, and I'm really glad I chose this gym to get my Crossfit experience from. I know the scale is bouncing all over the place because of the muscle gain, water retention, swelling from the hot weather, etc. and I'm NOT letting it dissuade me.

That's it for my thoughts this week. I'm trying to log in at least once a week and give a little feedback past "this is what we did today" to track where my mind is at. Hope everyone that reads is doing well. I see I often don't even get any views, but that's ok because I'm writing all of this for me, and if someone happens to get encouraged by it now or in the future, that's cool too :0)

Crossfit Day 6!

I learned something new about my husband today :0) At the gym I learned he had never before, EVER in his life, jumped a rope. Guess we are still technically newlyweds still learning about each other ;0)

Tonight's work out - killer, even though it sounds easy! It was our first official "WOD" (workout of the day) with a class. It helps that it takes a minimum of 6 to make a "class" and there are 5 of us in the family LOL, but anyways...

We did the Annie workout, modified, which consists of:
25-20-15-10 and 5 rep rounds, for time:
Jump-roping
& Sit-ups
Which equals 75 of each of the above, except for my 16 yr old, he did the FULL workout doubling all reps above, for a total of 150 of each - ahhh to be 16 again! LOL

Our Warm up was:
800 meter run
& 30 air squats

Here are our official times for the work out:

Me: 11:35
Hubby: 11:40
16 yr old son (full workout): 8:50
14 yr old son: 7:50
13 yr old daughter: 5:31

I took forever to get the sit-ups done and my hubby took forever to jump rope, so I thought us ending so close, and especially me first, was really funny. We balance each other out, what can we say :0)

Crossfit Day 5!

Our family completed a modified "Murph" today for Memorial day at the gym. Hopefully next year we will each be able to complete it as individuals, at least that is MY goal! We ended up doing more than what it would be if we divided it by 5, but a long ways from what it is meant to be.

In memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, 29, of Patchogue, N.Y., who was killed in Afghanistan June 28th, 2005.

This workout was one of Mike's favorites and he'd named it "Body Armor". From here on it will be referred to as "Murph" in honor of the focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is.

Our warm up was:
5 broad jumps
10 Air Squats
3 Burpee's
(Rinse and repeat x2)

"Murph" Workout:
1 mile Run (we did 200 meter run)
100 Pull-ups (we used a PVC pipe, 16 yr old used dumb bells)
200 Push-ups
300 Squats
1 mile Run (we did 400 meter run)
*Added a 3600 meter row to make up for the run being shorter

I'm starting to reach the point where I'm wanting to exercise more. It's funny how that creeps up on some of us once we actually START exercising. There have been a few programs I've done where the day between the workouts I was like...hmmm maybe I should go do more. I can see how some people get addicted to exercising, especially if they don't have a lot of other outside responsibilities and only work. I think I'll be bumping my workouts up to 3 days a week next month. 

I'm also loving the people that go to my gym. They are always stopping me and telling me how great I'm doing and to just hang in there. I tell them the truth, I don't plan to quit and I'm loving it...but I know how rough I look and I can imagine how much it looks like I struggle so I can see why people might not think I am enjoying myself LOL There are a couple that kinda look irritated when they see my family of 5 coming through the doors...but we're staying out of everyone's way and they'll just have to get use to us, because we're not going anywhere anytime soon! :0) 

Crossfit Day 4!

I'm exhausted! School (summer semester at college) started up again last night, I worked all day, went and exercised, now I'm working on school work but taking a quick break to post so I don't forget what workouts we did.

Warm up:

500 meter row (super easy, but it was our first time rowing so he just wanted to give us a feel)
40 Lunges (I could not do the last 20)
30 Air Squats


Work out:

50 Kettle bell Squats
50 sit up/crunches (I started with 20 crunches but couldn't do them very effectively so moved to sit ups)
50 push ups
600 meter run (jog/walk for me)

This is what you look like when you do Crossfit in 90 degree's. It's not pretty, but it's worth it. No, the mouth is not posed, it's literally open like a fish, thirsty for water. Time to shower and find mental strength to make dinner and then do school work.

As Dr. Seuss says, "Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right!" - I CAN

Crossfit Day 3!

I'm posting this a day late, but better late than never. I had issues with actually tracking my food in my tracker yesterday. I have been trying to use My Fitness Pal to track it, but it was having major issues loading yesterday. I stayed where I wanted to stay though, so that is good. I also have been bad about taking pictures...mainly because I run a daycare and it's hard to snap pics of the meals sometimes LOL 

Instead I fell back on the old tracking program I was using called LOSE IT! When I say fell back, I should probably explain. I was using LI! to track (when I was being good) but when I started doing Crossfit I couldn't find any of the exercises in there so I checked MFP. Well, I noticed at that time my calories were WAY off from what LI! said they should be. LI! said I should aim for 1629 calories, and MFP says 1280. I played with a few calculators online and they all said 1200's or so also. And of course, me posting this is reminding me I wanted to talk to my trainer about it last night so I will shoot him an email since he did my weight and measurement/body fat % yesterday and would probably be able to lead me in the right direction as to which is more accurate. 

Anyways, eating was good yesterday...but the part I wanted to really focus on was the exercising :D Yesterday's workout consisted of:

30 air squats3 front elbow plank's at 1 min each 

Upped our jog/run to 1400 meter run (I had to walk the last 400, my legs were shaking too much on me)

40 Kettle bell squats 

40 box steps (Hubby and the kids did jumps)

I feel like my run is getting stronger, although it's still laughable to passerby's I'm sure, it's definitely getting easier for me and my endurance is lasting a lot longer. The exercises pushed me, but I didn't wake up as sore today as I did the first day, so that's great! My family is loving it so far!

The cost of Crossfit...

On the weekends I won't be posting too much. We have pretty busy weekends, and Saturday's I'm pretty much gone all day. I also use Saturday as my day to enjoy a few not so healthy things to keep my self from binging on them due to lack of availability so I don't post my foods either. I don't go hog wild or anything, but for instance yesterday was my daughters 13th birthday party so I enjoyed a slice of cake and a cup of root beer. 

So one thing I've been thinking about is the cost of Crossfit. A lot of people say working out and eating healthy is too expensive and that's why they don't do it. That's just an excuse, one I've used many times myself. Working out is free. Eating healthy is more expensive than processed crap, but it's worth it. Take the beef tips I made earlier in the week as an example. Sure, they were more expensive than hot dogs and mac-n-cheese, but it lasted my entire family for two meals, and I ate leftovers for lunch for three days. I don't do this with all meals, but if it's good and the taste is not getting tiresome than it's a great way to stretch your bucks. 

So last Thursday was day 2 of CF. It was our 2nd time going up there, the first time is a free session, so we actually signed up and paid our membership fees. I paid while my husband and children went to the car. When I got back into the car I told my husband how much it was. He was a little shocked. I told him that with our fast food eating habits, which was WAY too often, we are essentially paying for our CF membership in about 2 weeks. When we are working out, we won't WANT the fast food as often. 

Last week is another prime example of that. I cooked every day! This is nearly a miracle in and of itself, sadly. I don't particularly enjoy cooking, even though I'm a good cook and the meals are always worth it! It's honestly just a matter of being lazy. During the winter I use my crock pot a lot. Mainly because it's nice to have that home cooked meal simmering all day and filling the house with such gorgeous aroma's, but it's also nice to have dinner done earlier in the evening and not having to stand in the kitchen cooking after a long days work. 

I guess basically what I'm saying, is that CF might be expensive, but when you actually sit down and break the cost down it's really not. When the cost is broken down for my family, at my particular gym, we are paying about $45 per month, per person to attend 2 days (this will increase, but for right now we're starting slow and building up - heck, yesterday *Saturday* was the first day we were walking mostly normal because of the lunges we did on Tuesday LOL). Around here you are paying almost that for a regular gym membership and the difference is, we are essentially getting personal trainers built into this price. And again, the bottom line is that we would spend about that in two weeks if we were eating fast food, if you figure $5 a value meal for at least one meal a day. When I broke it down to my husband like that, he totally got what I was saying and agreed that we'd eat out once a week, Saturdays, with a few exceptions for special occasions thrown in.

It's all a matter of putting your priorities in order. Is that dollar menu more important than exercising? That's up to you to decide.

Until next time...

Day 2 of Crossfit!

Day 2, not as bad as I thought it would be, and although I'm still sore I have to admit, working out again did make it hurt less (until I got home and had to walk up 5-6 stairs to get up the deck and to the door lol). 

I did:

30 Sit ups

30 squats

& a 1000 meter run. 

Getting a baseline measurement for the run was the goal today. I forced myself to do the 200 meter's each time (instead of the 200/100/100 I did last time). Even if I had to walk, I did them. I want to look back at this time (8:35, don't laugh...only I'm allowed to do that LOL) and SEE the improvements I'm making over the next few months - even if it just means I'm walking the walking parts faster! I keep telling myself, as embarrassing as some of these numbers are, this is REAL and the only way to measure REAL achievements is to test the same thing over a period of time and see the progression. 

Eating was good today, but I'm not gonna lie...I had 4 Reece's Peanut Butter Cups. It's ok, tomorrow is another day and I've only drank water for the past week (other than fat free chocolate milk with breakfast this morning and dinner tonight), so I'm still super proud of myself! Maybe I've kicked this Pepsi and Sweet Tea habit :D I didn't take pictures of my foods today because it was mostly a repeat, but here is what I ate:

Breakfast: Banana & fat free chocolate milk (8 oz). (I know I need more at breakfast time, but I just have a hard time eating early).

Lunch: Leftover Beef Tips, some brown rice as well as some Broccoli.

Dinner is cooking, but it's going to be Turkey sausage (like Kielbasa), wild brown rice, and a TON of stir fry veggies (just the veggies, no sauces).

I'm beat, looking forward to a shower after dinner and then crawling into my bed to watch some t.v. and pass out, I'm exhausted!

Until next time...

Definitely feeling it!

WOW! We are definitely feeling the burn today. The only one who isn't is the 16 yr old who is in the best shape of us all. We are feeling the burn in our thighs (mostly front, but depending on what we're doing the back as well), butt, and abs. Everyone decided to try and do a lunge to see if it would make their legs feel better...everyone but me that is...and it was the funniest thing I've ever seen. Getting down hurt, getting back up was nearly impossible LOL As soon as I post this entry, I'm going to soak in a hot bath tub and then go to bed! I slept like a baby last night though, and that was really nice.

My food has been really good today. I woke up craving an omelet. Since I only had one daycare kid until 10:30 he and I decided to venture to IHOP where I enjoyed a simply fit spinach, tomato, mushroom omelet along with 1 1/2 slices of wheat toast and a bowl of fresh fruit. It was DELICIOUS, and totally hit the spot!

For lunch I had a split meal. I was still pretty full from breakfast, but I'm trying to get into the habit of eating smaller meals every 3-4 hours or so I took 1/4 of a cup of rice and 1/4 cup of beef tips from dinner last night and ate that. It was even better today!

The second part of my lunch was a quick salad. I had a can of lean ham that I shredded and mixed with 1 laughing cow low fat Swiss cheese wedge over the baby green salad mix and about 1 tsp of honey mustard dressing on top of it. It didn't taste that great towards the end, so I won't be doing this mix again LOL I guess some things just aren't meant to be combined ;0)

For dinner we had leftover beef tips, this time served over Smart Taste wide egg noodles instead of rice. We also added some Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce, my FAVORITE! Not as good as with the rice, but less calories so that was nice :0)

And now...my hot bath is calling my name. Day 2 of Crossfit!! I'm excited to go and learn new stuff. I'm just hoping I can actually walk better tomorrow LOL

Crossfit Day 1!

Consider my butt kicked! I honestly can't even fake the smile, but I feel it inside. LOL So proud of my family for getting out of our comfort zone and kicking butt together - ok, so we didn't officially kick anyone elses butt except our own, but isn't that the most important one to kick when trying to get healthier? :0)

 

I can't even tell y'all how excited I was all day waiting to go to the gym. I ended up getting off work early, and immediately jumped into my gym clothes - ok, when I say jumped, it really took me like 15 minutes because I was trying to secure "my girls" so I didn't embarrass myself LOL I didn't expect it to be easy by any means, in fact, I would've been disappointed if it was! But I'm excited for where we will be going physically and mentally with this journey. I know I'm in this for the long haul, and my family has promised me a month with an open mind.

With that being said, it truly did kick our butts. The only one who didn't look completely whopped leaving was my 16 yr old, who is already in pretty good shape. We did the warm ups and then some stuff outside. It was pretty crowded inside and the people helping us were very friendly. 

So here is what we did our first day:

15/10/5

Situps

Lunges

Outside we did a timed activity (this may be an every visit kind of thing, I don't know...we will find out soon enough!). My time was 9:44...which may not sound that impressive, but I was sure impressed, even if I felt like I was going to puke at the end, but that's the point, right - push yourself as far as you can! LOL

We did (same reps as above):

box jumps  (on huge tires - mine as scaled to a cinder block)

200 mm runs (I did 200 the first time, then 100 the next two times)

Good Mornings (I didn't use weights for this)

Although I was able to do all of the warm-up they had us do, I struggled with the portion outside. I did all of the box jumps and we had to adjust my run after the first 200 mm. The good mornings I did crossing my hands over my chest, which I have to admit was still kicking my butt! I know I'm gonna feel it tomorrow, but I already can't wait to return on Thursday. :0)

Lunch (no sauce, just a little bit of fresh salsa, 4 oz. 80/20 ground sirloin, 1 cup large elbow noodles, 1 wedge of laughing cow cheese)

I did not get pictures of the other food but here is what I had:

 

Snack was an apple and a string cheese before my work out

Dinner was sirloin beef tips with 1 cup of rice and 1 cup of California vegetables.

 

How do you figure out the nutrition information?

I can't figure out how to get the nutritional information for these beef tips...any suggestions? Google is not my friend right now either. I buy my meat packaged and often it has the nutrition information on it, but sometimes it doesn't. How do you figure out what the nutritional information is if it's not listed? Surely there is an easier way than Googling and getting 50 different answers. 

Daily Accountability

One thing that works well for me is having accountability. I use to do this via vlogging, but I simply don't have the time to maintain that...then I get discouraged and just quit all together. So, this is what my menu looked like today; well, at least part of it - allow me to explain.

For breakfast I had 1/2 of a sausage and cheese biscuit and a hash brown from McD's. I can honestly say this was not the intention when I woke up this morning. Before I knew it I was at McD's and ordered out of habit, paid, got the meal, drove off...then it hit me...WTF did I just do?! The intention was to get an oatmeal and a yogurt parfait, NOT a sausage biscuit. So I ate only half of it. I realize that fast food is nowhere near as good for me as home cooked stuff but I was taking my sister to an appointment this morning and the routine got thrown out of whack, which will happen from time to time, so I had good intentions. I dropped her off then stopped by...excuses, excuses...poor planning (although this came up last minute that she needed a ride) is what it was. I will be making some quick "pop 'em in the microwave" breakfast meals over this weekend and freezing them so I have no excuses next time something pops up!

Lunch was great! I had a grilled chicken salad with organic Mixed Baby Greens, some shredded cheese, banana peppers, and Ken's light honey-mustard dressing.

Dinner was a homemade burrito with 80/20 lean ground beef, fat free refried beans, tiny bit of shredded cheese, and 1tbsp light sour cream. (No pic)

For snack today I had 5 very large strawberries. They were SO good!

If I get hungry again before bedtime, I will make me another, smaller, salad - minus the chicken. So before I get negative comments, I want to say, yes, I know this is not the greatest meal day with the way it started, but LOOK at how I turned it around. AND, I also tracked all of my food AND measured it instead of just fixing a plate.
 

I also have to say...I was a little happy to see that the way I make my homemade burrito without measuring stuff is actually less amount of calories so that was kinda cool!

I wasn't worried about trying to re-calculate my calorie intake or weighing myself for today or tomorrow because I plan to get measured, weighed, and figure out how many calories are recommended for me while doing CF when we hit the gym tomorrow night after work. 

Can I just tell you how excited I am to start this?! I wonder if everyone feels this way, or if they dread it. I know come tomorrow night I will be tired as hell, but I am so excited about starting it tomorrow. I didn't go into this before (I don't think), but we're doing this as a family as well. Myself (morbidly obese) and my husband (slightly overweight) and then my teenagers, a son 16 (already has some awesome ab's but hey, family time!), a son 14 (overweight and pretty lazy like his mom and step-dad), and my 13 yr old daughter (overweight as well) will be there as well, but our gym has a 14 and older policy so I told her she can work on jumping rope and other things while we work out. Our hopes are that they will have little things she can do to help improve her health as well - but we'll see how it goes tomorrow. I know this particular gym is really family centered, so even if she can't participate she can learn a lot by watching.
 

Anyways, I guess that is enough for today. I know a few of my friends are reading and not replying on here, but thank you for the support and encouragement I've gotten privately! It's much appreciated! This time tomorrow I'll be huffing and puffing - eeeee!!

What makes me think I will succeed at Crossfit?

Some people may be wondering what makes me think I'm going to succeed at Crossfit. I mean I'm considered morbidly obese and have battled weight all of my adult life.

I'll tell you; COMMITMENT! The fact that Crossfit is about challenging YOURSELF while using functional moves, means that it is left up to me to succeed or fail. And as some of you may know, I don't handle failure well in the rest of the areas of my life - I fight to succeed - and I refuse to allow my health sit ideally by when it's ONE thing I can control in this life. 

In the past I've tried many things and of everything I tried, I enjoyed things that pushed me and challenged me the most. Sure, Sweatin' to the Oldies and Zumba was fun, and YES they were challenging for me! But, I really did enjoy my time with martial arts, Tae Bo, and Body for Life more. I think it was because I pushed myself outside of my boundaries with people who challenged and pushed me that made me enjoy them more than other things I've tried. 

I've proven to myself things I can't control on my own because I don't have someone there challenging me and pushing me to do more because they trust me more than I do. From what I've read and see of the CF lifestyle, the community is something that will help me thrive. 

I'm very excited at seeing the transformation of my body. Do I ever expect to have a perfect body? No, but then again I feel there is no definition of perfect. Perfect for one person is not perfect to another. My goals are pretty open ended because I hope once I reach one, there is another I want to strive for. My first goal, lose FAT. This is a long term goal because this weight didn't come on overnight. I've always said, I didn't care what number the scale said, as long as it was muscle and not fat.

A few other goals I am aiming for:


No fast food! This is something my family desperately need to get rid of, COMPLETELY!


No Soda/sweet tea! I'm a southern gal, sweet tea is my crutch. When I have a bad day, I turn to Pepsi or chocolate. 


START EXERCISING REGULARLY! My goal to start with is to attend our CF gym twice a week. I know this may not seem like much, but let me tell ya, after so long of not exercising and now doing CF, these two days are going to literally kick my ass. Sadistically, I'm looking forward to it. 

So, in a nutshell - I just want to be healthier and I'm going to start with making what may seem like small changes to some of you, yet for anyone who has been in my shoes, you know this is going to be a real challenge.


Until next time...I know I'm not afraid for this challenge. I'm embracing it.